Inter-league: Dragons vs Fighters @Nagoya Dome, June 17th - 19th; Dragons go Ham on Fighters

The last round of interleague play would bring about old foes, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. The Fighters are probably best known abroad for fostering the growth of Texas Rangers ace, Yuu Darvish as well as home of the man that may follow in the aforementioned’s footsteps, Shohei Ohtani. To Dragons fans, at least in recent memory, the Fighters were the team that they traded Japan Series blows with in 2006 and 2007, the latter series where the Dragons clinched their J-Series title in 53 years off the back of a Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase combined, sphincter clinching, 1-0, perfect game.

Game 1 at the Nagoya dome would see Jordan Norberto face off against Luis Mendoza. Both pitchers went pound for pound the whole game with Jordan pitching 115 balls in 7 1/3 scoreless innings for 8 strikeouts. The Dominican has put in some great shows of stamina recently and his accuracy as well has to be applauded. Mendoza went 7 innings pitching a comparatively economic 88 deliveries with 6 strikeouts and 3 hits conceded.

The deciding event of the game would be a combination between old hands, Yohei Ohshima and Ryosuke Hirata. Ohshima got to first only to be bunted ahead by Araki. Hirata stepped up to take a two base hit and send his lead-off hitter home to end the scoring at 1-0 in the 4^th inning.

Commentators made mention of the vague similarity to Yamai and Iwase’s heroics 9 years ago, and apart from the 5 hits that Jordan conceded, it was pretty close to replay as Tajima took his 4^th save of the season to end the game.

Game 2 would see another appearance from the re-born Yudai Ohno on the mound as he faced off against Mitsuo Yoshikawa to try and win the series for the Dragons.

Hirata would be the hero once again as his solo homer in the bottom of the first set the Dragons off to a winning start.

Takuya Nakajima however would take advantage of a wayward Ohno in the 5^th inning after the bases were loaded up with a single to even the scores. The Dragons would however retake the lead in the 6^th through that man, Hirata as he sent Araki home after his successful steal, 2-1. Nanita would add to the carnage through a two-base hit to allow Hirata to score and make it 3-1. Brandon Laird however gave the Fighters hope in the 9^th through a solo homer of his own.

It was however to be of no consequence as Tajima settled and took out Asama and Ushino consecutively to end the game and claim the save.

Hirata was “da man” with his two game deciding hits while Nanita, Ohshima and Hernandez all chipped in with hits of their own to contribute to the victory.  Ohno threw down 7 innings with 3 strikes and 3 walks or 1 earned run while Matayoshi held and Tajima made the save.  Another even game that the Dragons just edged with a bit of individual brilliance to give the Dragons a series win.

Game 3 and the final game of interleague play would see a battle of aces old and new with Shohei Ohtani facing up against Chunichi’s ace in the hole, Kazuki Yoshimi. It would take until the 6^th inning before the Fighters broke through with Brandon Laird’s timely two base hit to send Ohtani in to score, 1-0. Ohtani himself would contribute with  the bat in the 8^th after a bizarre substitution of three pitchers, Okada, Matayoshi and Ogawa loaded up the bases. Ohtani took a walk off Ogawa to give the Fighters some room at 2-0.  It would take the 4^th pitcher change of the inning in Daisuke Sobue to end the inning.  Daikan Yoh would be the next to add to the lead as his single off Daisuke Yamai sent Taniguchi home, 3-0.  The Dragons would try their best to rally in the bottom of the 9^th as Masui gave up a walk to Hirata and a hit to Viciedo to put runners on 2^nd and 3^rd. Ricardo Nanita’s then ground out to first would allow Hirata to score to put things at 3-1. Hernandez’s base hit would then score Viciedo to bring the scores to 3-2 and a tense moment for Ham closer, Masui. Nomoto would then take a walk to bring the closer off the mound to be replaced by Chris Martin. Up against the former Fighter, Takahito Kudo, Martin fanned the veteran outfielder to end the game and claim the save. A tense ending to a great game.

Daikan Yoh was the pick of the hitters with his three while Hernandez and Viciedo both claimed two hits a piece for the Dragons. Yoshimi looked good in his 6 innings as he fanned 8 while giving up one earned run. The less perhaps said about the bullpen this game the better.

An overall series win for the Dragons in some very tightly contested but enjoyable games.

The Dragons finished the interleague standing in a respectable mid-table 8^th with a 7-11 record, the weakest team batting average at .195 but conversely the best team ERA with 2.31.

Chunichi currently sits at 3^rd on the Central League ladder after 70 games with a .478 winning average.

The team now has a rest until Friday when the play the Yakult Swallows at Jingu.

The good news to come out of camp this week however is that Shuhei Takahashi looks set to be on the return train as he was given the all clear to join the 2-gun team for practice.  Juan Jaime made it through he first bull-pen practice since he was injured in pre-season and Drew Naylor doesn't look likely to return until at least after the all-star break.

As for the All-star fan voting, as of the 20th a few Dragons players have popped up. Wakamatsu is the main nominated starter with 19,224 votes but Tomoyuki Sugano is way ahead of the pack with 131, 239 votes. Baystars Shota Imanaga trails him with 101,879 votes while Hiroki Kuroda of the Carp sits in third. 

Shinji Tajima however sits in the lead of voting for relief pitcher with 168,852 being trailed by Tomoya Mikami of the Baystars and Scott Mathieson of the Giants.

Viciedo is second with 121,470  at the moment for 1st base behind Takahiro Arai who's well ahead with 214, 646 votes. Mauro Gomez rounds out the top 3. 

Tetsuto Yamada is unsurprisingly taking the lions share of votes for second base with 252, 631, Ryosuke Kikuchi trails him by around 100k votes. Masahiro Araki however sits in 4th 10,000 votes off 3rd placed Luis Cruz.

Shingo Kawabata looks set to take 3rd, but our boy Shuhei sits third in the ranking with 63, 341 behind Giants favourite Shuichi Murata. 

Naomichi Donoue sneaks into the top 5 for short-stop with 59,123 votes, but Hayato Sakamoto sits on top with 183, 373 votes. 

Meanwhile in the outfield Ryosuke Hirata is the only one that gets a mention in the top 8 as he sit is 5th behind Tsutusgo, Maru, Takayama and Eldred in the voting. No sign of Nanita; what a travesty. 

I'll fill you in when the selections are made but for the time being you can review the current count here.

Hirata and Tajima are probably certain selections at this stage, apart from that we'll just have to see what happens!

Inter-league: Dragons vs Eagles @Nagoya Dome, June 3rd - 5th; Birds of prey continue to plunder Dragons

The second round of the interleague series would see the Dragons encounter a different type of poultry to the Hawks in the Rakuten Eagles. The game took place in Nagoya for the first home games of the Pac-Cen battles.

In Game 1, Jordan Norberto lined up against Takahiro Shiomi for this one with the Dominican looking for his 4^th win of the season.

The Eagles were the ones to take the early initiative through Zelous Wheeler who trundled a ball over the right stand to take the lead 0-1 in the 2^nd.

The Dragons struck back immediately in the bottom of the inning as a Nobumasa Fukuda sac-fly allowed Viciedo to score to put things back to 1-1. That’s the way things would stay until the 7^th inning when Ginji, pinch-hitting for Shiomi, got one away to take the lead for the Eagles once more. Okajima would pile on more pressure with another RBI single to slowly start to take the game away at 1-3. The Dragons would not be able to break the Rakuten bullpen however as the batting line-up failed once again to break through. It was even between both sides with 5 hits a piece, but the Eagles made it count and pitched well to seal the win.

Game 2 would mark the comeback to the first team for Yudai Ohno who has been out since early May with elbow soreness. A vital piece of the puzzle returns and makes the starting rotation look all the more impressive. Yoshimi, Ohno, Jordan and Wakamatsu have all looked good this season with still some question marks over Valdes and Ogasawara.

Ohno however wouldn’t make the greatest of comebacks as the Eagles didn’t allow him to get his rhythm going in the 1^st as Mogi struck first blood with a bunt and run that allowed Okajima to get in to score. Zelous Wheeler contributed once more as his ground-out to second was followed by Yoshimochi coming in to score. Nakagawa would keep the pressure on after Matsui was walked as he copied Wheeler’s example allowing Mogi to score to make it 0-3. The Dragons continued to knock on the door all game to try and get something out of the result, but 0-3 would be the end score.

 8 Dragons hits to the Eagles 5 was perhaps some bitter reading as with a bit more luck (and a more honed Ohno) the result could have easily gone the other way. Araki, Nanita and Fukuda all posted two hits each while Ohno’s return was marked with 2 Ks, 3 walks (all in the first inning) and 3 hits conceded. If we forget the first inning, we could call it a decent comeback!

Eager for revenge, the Dragons wanted to avoid the sweep on Sunday. Kazuki Yoshimi’s safe hands were entrusted with the ball to try and set up the first win at home in the interleague period.

The 0-0 lock would be broken in the 6^th through Dayan Viciedo as a poor throw from Mogi allowed Yoshimi and Ohshima to scurry home to make the score 2-0. And that would be all she wrote! The Dragons held on for a close victory that the Eagles never really looked like endangering. Only 3 hits today from the Dragons which is some cause for worry particularly as one of them came from the pitcher, but a win is a win is a win. Yoshimi grabbed his 3^rd win of the season while Tajima snatched his 3^rd save.

Not a great series from the batters, but there’s not much you can do about that. The Eagles have been good this season and maybe this was another case for the gulf between the two leagues. The Dragons sit on 2W 4L against interleague opponents so far this year. Will be interesting to see if we can even get .500. The coaches don’t seem to be taking it all overly seriously though with time given to a few newer members, particularly Ogasawara.

In back office news however, the Dragons have signed a new pitcher. Another lad from the Dominican Winter League, a team-mate of current Dragon Juan Jaime even (and even a former team-mate of Viciedo in the Majors), former White Sox pitcher, Leyson Septimo. It is likely that he will be used as a closer to compete with the misfiring Koji Fukutani. That does however raise the question of who out of Nanita, Viciedo, Valdes and Jordan will be given the flick to make room for him, but that’s something we’ll find out I guess. Maybe if Oguma returns we’ll see Valdes de-regged to make room for him. 

Regular Season: Dragons vs Giants @Nagoya Dome, April 8th-10th; Ohno's creation, Tie frustration, What in tarnation?

Alrighty, we're a little bit behind schedule but here's the what went down on the weekend between the Dragons and the Giants. The Giants have been in good nick this season proving that their batting has more depth to it than last year and that the pitching staff are just as good as they've always been.

Those of you familiar with the 1980s Tom Selleck goes to Japan experience, Mr Baseball might think that the Giants are the Dragons biggest rivals, and while you'd be technically correct, the really, really correct answer is everyone hates the Giants and the Tigers share a more intense hatred than anyone else. It's hard to nail down a "rival" for the Dragons, but geographically, it probably is more likely to be Hanshin with Osaka being closer. The Giants of course have been possible larger rivals due to the tag and tow between to two in vying for the Central League over the past decade or so.

Whatever the case may be, we were in for a cracker of a game with both teams having a fair share of wins heading into the match up.

The biggest news in the lead-up to this one would probably be the continued absence of Ryosuke Hirata who has been sidelined with injury as well as the return of pitching duo Kazuki Yoshimi and Hitoki Iwase from their respective long-term injuries. Iwase in particular would be making his comeback after nearly 2 years out of the game.

Game number 13 of the season was a return to the opening day starters as Yudai Ohno and Kyosuke Takagi took to the mound to start things. There would be good energy from the first inning from Ohno as he ran through the top order in succession nabbing Chono through a ground out and striking out Tateoka and Sakamoto. Takagi would follow suit, but would give up a base to Araki before seeing off Takahashi and Viciedo.

The second inning would bring much more excitement for both teams as the first scoring plays of the game took shape. Ohno would grab Garrett's scalp before allowing Cruz a base. This brought to the plate the 26 year old, Taishi Ohta who quite frankly, bullied Ohno, sending the lefty pitcher over the fence to register the first two runs of the game, 0-2.

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Ohno would give up one more hit to Murata but nabbed Kobayashi and Takagi to finish the inning.

The strike back from Chunichi would be swift as in the bottom of the second the Nagoya team hit back. Ohta would catch Nanita's foul ball before Fujii and Donoue managed to find themselves on 3rd and 1st base respectively. Katsura would fall victim to Takagi's change-ups as he struck out. Ohno would be the man to take guard and it would the pitcher that would help draw first blood as his timely hit into left-field sent Fujii home and moved Donoue onto second, 1-2.

 The scoring wouldn't stop there however as Ohshima joined the party with a line-drive to even up the scores at 2-2.

Araki could not help turn the score into a leading one as he flew out to center to end the inning.

Scoring would pick up again in the 4th. Fujii hit a double to lead off the inning while Donoue helped Fujii to third with a sacrifice bunt. Katsura would take up the bat for the next plate appearance and the young catcher would once again make a telling contribution with his bat as he ground out, but allowed Fujii to score to make it 3-2.

The game would close out without much incident as Ohno claimed man of the match honours for his RBI and winning pitching. Lots of credit too has to go to Naomichi Donoue who's fielding has been beyond reproach since replacing Issei Endo.

Game 14 would be, well at least for me, an exciting 0-0 (maybe that's the soccer fan in me) where the game took its tips and turns but unfortunately didn't pan out in the way either team had really hoped. Kazuki Yoshimi made his long awaited return to the mound as he started and finished 7 scoreless innings while a return was also made by Hitoki Iwase after his almost 2 years out of the first team.

The game was a very cagey one with both teams not doing their best with the pitches given to them and not converting when it was important. Mr Gibson of the J-Ball podcast pointed out to me that, while I was caught up with the excitement, both teams had a habit of swinging at bad pitches. He was probably right.

Young Kazuto Yaguchi kept up the pace with the veteran Yoshimi but it was the Giants pitcher who walked away with slightly better stats as he only allowed 2 hits and struck out 7 batters in his seven innings. Yoshimi however would have to settle for 5 conceded hits and 6 strikouts in his seven.

The most tense moment of the game was to come in the 7th inning when Yoshimi was replaced by Shinji Tajima. Usually one of the Dragons best relievers, Tajima did the unthinkable and loaded up the bases with walks following Kamei's short-fly out. Chono, Tateoka and Sakamoto walked to base and Tanishige was quick to yoink Tajima off the mound. He was to be replaced by the returning Iwase who was to come up against American slugger, Garrett Jones. Some tense moment followed as the veteran closer sized up his target, but it would be Iwase who would come out the savior as Jones hit into a double play to end the inning. Big sighs of relief from the crowd combined with a rambunctious roar for the triumphant return of the legendary pitcher.



Unfortunately there would be little else to write home about  as the game entered extra time only for nothing to come of it. 13 combined hits in total from both teams; not great. Iwase and Yoshimi's return however made for happy watching for Dragons fans looking forward.
Yoshimi has since been de-registered from the first team as he continues his reconditioning to get back to peak fitness.
Another milestone would be reached this game as Masahiro Araki made his 2000th game appearance. Araki is also only 99 away from 2000 hits. Let's hope he can do it this season




Game 15, the last of the series would be an unfortunate loss due to some very poor relieving innings. The game had far more to it than the previous one, but still a lot of negatives for the Dragons who just didn't do well enough against an inconsistent but dangerous Giants team.

Drew Naylor would start things for the Dragons while Nobutaka Imamura was on the mound for the Giants.

Naylor would start things off well, striking out Chono and ripping through the first two hitters to finish the first inning. The Chunichi reply was threatening as Araki made his way to first an then second as Shuhei ground out at first. Viciedo would then take a walk, but the problematic #5 spot in the line-up continued to be so as Akasaka struck out to end the first inning.

Some nervous moments would come for the Aussie in the second as he allowed a double to Garrett Jones but removed Cruz. Naylor would then give up a walk to Kita and Murata to load the bases for the first real tense moment of the game. Naylor would however fight back courageously to strikeout Kobayashi and Imamura to end the inning.

Obviously fired up, the Dragons went out to make it count in the bottom of the 2nd. Fujii continued his poor form as he flied out but Donoue would continue his good form with a single. Katsura continued his streak with the bat as he moved Donoue to third before Naylor fell victim to Imamura. Ohshima with his second at bat of the day would be the hero as he sent Donoue in to score with a timely hit into the left field, 1-0.

Katsura would unfortunately be gunned down at the home plate, perhaps reaching too far,  after a hit from Araki fell to right field.

The pitchers would trade notes for the next 3 innings or so showing good poise and purpose but it would be Imamura's turn to dig himself out of trouble in the 5th. After dismissing Araki, Imamura gave up a hit to Takahashi and a stroll to Viciedo. Akasaka's hit to the third-base allowed Takahashi to move to 3rd but sacrificed Viciedo at second to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Fujii would be the next to elect for a walk as Imamura loaded the bases. The sign was sent to the Giants bench and the starter was swapped out for Tsuchida who easily struck out Donoue to end the inning and escape a very pinch moment, scores still at 1-0.

The top of the 6th would see the equalizer from the Giants as a hit from Chono followed by a sacrificial bunt from Tateoka moved the former onto second. Sakamoto would strike out, but the American, Jones would make it all count by hitting a double to even up the scores at 1-1. Cruz would add himself to the bases but Naylor would once again strike out Kita to end the inning.

The score wouldn't remain the same for long however as Katsura made contact once again this series to move to first. Naylor would attempt a bunt but would ultimately fail to bring Ohshima to the plate. The multi golden glove winner hit a double into right field to put himself on second with Naylor on third. Recent record maker, Masahiro Araki would be the man in the spotlight as he converted his pitcher and centre-fielder's hard work by hitting a single down the ground to allow Naylor to score, 2-1.

Obviously foreseeing something bad on the horizon (pehaps a bad moon?) Giants manager, Yoshinobu Takahashi changed out his reliever to bring in Tone. Shuhei would fly out but allow runners to move to second and third. Two outs now gone brought Viciedo to the plate but he was walked to load the bases once again. The problematic #5 spot in the line-up reared it's ugly head again as Kudo, who had come in as a pinch runner for Akasaka, was replaced by Masahiko Morino who was making his first appearance of the season. The veteran has been turning it on for the 2-gun team, but unfortunately it wasn't to transfer to the biggest stage as he struck out to end the inning.

Naylor got mad with
himself.

Entering the 7th, things were going to get bad for the Dragons as after nabbing Murata, Naylor then gave up hit to Kobayashi and Friday night homer-hero, Ohta. Tanishige decided he'd had enough of the Aussie and the ball was given to Matayoshi to close out. A low slider would ground out Ohta as he was short of his ground at second base, but Tateoka would make the best of the situation as he hit one into the right-field to even up the scores at 2-2. Things would go from bad to worse for Matayoshi as he now gave up a double to Sakamoto to stretch the lead to 2-4. Unsurprisingly the right handed reliever was told to sit on the pine as Ryuya Ogawa came on to try and salvage the game. Ogawa would give up a hit to Jones to join Yoshikawa on base (Yoshikawa had come on to pinch-run for Sakamoto). Cruz would add to the condemnation of the bullpen as he doubled to send both runners home, 2-6. Hiroto Fuku, the rookie, would then face up against Daisuke Nakai who was pinch-hitting for Tone and would give up a hit to allow Cruz to canter home, 2-7.

There was a little bit of magic in the 8th as Donoue helped Chono on his way with this lovely piece of work.

One destructive innings however would be all she wrote for Dragons fans as the team failed to get itself back into the game. Only two more hits would come for the Dragons in the 8th and 9th inning but that would accompany two double-plays as well to end a pretty shocking game. It was all won and lost in the 7th and the Dragons have only themselves to blame for not getting more out of this one.

Matayoshi was apologetic in the aftermath explaining that "I didn't put it where the catcher had set it up."Tanishige however was in a much more philosophical mood as he put down the loss to "We came out to fight and we went down fighting." He was however quick to highlight the positives of the pitching as he mentioned how solidified the starting rotation is now compared to the start of the season. With Yoshimi, Oguma and Jordan all coming in and doing well, things do look positive. He did however say he would give some thought over the problematic number 5 spot in the line-up as Nanita, Akasaka and others have failed to impress in that spot so far to give Viciedo the support he needs.


In other new, Drew Naylor has since had a pow-wow with his "Japanese Dad," pitching coach Shigekazu Mori and translator, Luis Francis. The three apparently had a two hour chat about possible new approaches for Naylor in coming games.

Next games are against Hiroshima with one out in the countryside of Kure. Wakamatsu, Jordan and Oguma should be set to record some wins against a team I certainly consider we are equal to.